Adoption

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many transracial adoptions were effected in England in (1) 2010, (2) 2011, and (3) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many same-race adoptions were effected in England in (1) 2010, (2) 2011, and (3) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the failure rates for (1) transracial, and (2) same-race, adoptions.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education does not collect data which could tell us whether a child is adopted by parents of the same or a different ethnicity. Information is available on the ethnicity of looked-after children who are adopted but information on the ethnicity of adopters is not collected by the department. The attached table 1 shows the number of looked-after children adopted by ethnicity for each year from 2010.
	This information has been taken from Table E1 of the Statistical First Release "Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England (including adoption and care leavers)-year ending 31 March 2012". This Statistical First Release can be found on the department's website at: http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/ statistics/a00213762/children-looked-after-las-england.
	Copies of this report will be placed in the House Libraries.
	In November 2012, Ofsted published a statistical release which contains information on the ethnicity of adopters. The number of adopters approved in the year 2011-12 by ethnicity can be found in section C of the "Adoption quality assurance and data form 2011-12" available at: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/adoption- quality-assurance-and-data-forms-2011-12-first-statistical-release.
	Copies of this report will be placed in the House Libraries.
	The Department for Education does not currently collect information on adoption breakdowns but has recently commissioned research to understand better the number and causes of adoption breakdowns. This research is expected to be published in early 2014. Current research does not support the idea that adoptions will be more likely to break down if there is no ethnic match. It suggests that disruption rates are much the same and there are few differences in most psychosocial outcomes, including self-esteem for children placed with prospective adopters who are an ethnic match and for those without an ethnic match1.
	Information on the number of children who return to care following a breakdown of a previous adoption will be collected for the first time in 2014; however, the data will not include any information on the ethnicity of adoptive parents. The failure rates for (1) transracial and (2) same race adoptions will not therefore be available from this new data collection.
	1Pathways to Permanence for children of black, Asian and mixed ethnicity: dilemmas, decision-making and outcomes, Selwyn J et al. (2010)
	
		
			 Table 1: Looked-after children who were adopted during the years ending 31 March by ethnic origin1, 2 
			 Years ending 31 March 2010 to 2012 
			 Coverage: England 
			Numbers and percentages 
			   Numbers   Percentages   
			   2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 
			 All looked-after children who were adopted during the year ending 31 March  3,200 3,090 3,450 100 100 100 
			 Ethnic origin  3,200 3,090 3,450 100 100 100 
			  White 2,670 2,600 2,930 83 84 85 
			  Mixed 350 320 330 11 10 10 
			  Asian or Asian British 50 60 60 2 2 2 
			  Black or Black British 100 80 90 3 2 3 
			  Other ethnic groups 20 20 30 1 1 1 
			  Other3 10 20 20 - - 1 
		
	
	Source: SSDA 903
	1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
	2. Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials.
	3. "Other" comprises information refused or not yet available which was collected for the first time in 2009.
	- Negligible. Percentage below 0.5%.

Alcohol: Rehabilitation Centres

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to fund, wholly or in part, private sector alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation centres that utilise holistic, alternative or complementary medical therapies.

Earl Howe: From April 2013, upper tier and unitary local authorities have received a ring-fenced public health grant. This includes funding for alcohol misuse prevention and treatment.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced evidence-based guidance on alcohol treatment and a quality standard, Alcohol Dependence and Harmful Alcohol Use, enabling local commissioners to ensure the services they commission are evidence-based.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Maritime Patrol Aircrew worked on Nimrod; how many were redeployed following the deletion of Nimrod; and, of those, how many are now serving overseas.

Lord Astor of Hever: As at April 2010, a total of 176 Maritime Patrol Aircrew worked on Nimrod, all of whom were re-employed at that time within the RAF. Thirty-four personnel are currently deployed overseas in Maritime Patrol Aircrew seedcorn roles and a further six are overseas in maritime-related exchange posts.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average annual cost per head of Maritime Patrol Aircrew.

Lord Astor of Hever: There are currently 34 RAF aircrew serving overseas as part of the Maritime Patrol Aircrew seedcorn initiative. The cost of this initiative in financial year 2012-13 is £3.8 million.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current level of funding per annum for a Maritime Patrol replacement programme.

Lord Astor of Hever: There is currently no funding allocated to a Maritime Patrol replacement programme.
	This will be reviewed as part of the 2015 strategic defence and security review. We currently have 34 RAF ex-Nimrod MR2 operators within allied forces to maintain a skills base and keep future options open.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current timescale for the phasing out of the Tornado fleet; what is the cost of retaining the Tornado fleet each year between now and the fleet being phased out; and what is the cost of maintaining each Tornado aircraft per annum.

Lord Astor of Hever: The planned out of service date of the Tornado fleet is currently 31 March 2019. Indicative costs per financial year (FY) for retaining the Tornado fleet are provided in the following table. These costs remain subject to change as plans mature.
	
		
			 FY 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 
			 £ (million) 651 559 442 410 379 333 
		
	
	Maintenance arrangements are based on the availability of the required number of aircraft and it is not possible to provide costs on a per-aircraft basis.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the cost of fitting Storm Shadow to the Typhoon; and over what timescale that enhancement will be completed.

Lord Astor of Hever: Planning for the integration of Storm Shadow on to Typhoon is under way. I am withholding estimates of the cost, as disclosure of this information in advance of a potential competition for the work would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence. Subject to formal approval, provisional timescales for the project envisage entry into service in the latter half of this decade

Armed Forces: Defence Budget

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the forecast underspend in the Ministry of Defence for the financial year 2012-13.

Lord Astor of Hever: I refer the noble Lord to table 2.5 of the Budget Red Book. Final figures will be published in the Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts for 2012-13.
	The Treasury has agreed that all MoD underspend in 2012-13 may be carried forward to future years.

Armed Forces: Equipment and Vehicles

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria are used to determine whether United Kingdom-owned military equipment and vehicles should (1) be retained and repatriated, (2) is safe to leave behind in Afghanistan for further use by local agencies, and (3) should be destroyed or disabled to prevent further hostile use by insurgents, al-Qaeda militants, or other terrorist groups.

Lord Astor of Hever: Equipment and materiel will only be redeployed from Afghanistan once operational commanders are content that it is no longer required. Once identified as no longer required a decision is made on whether to gift, sell, destroy or redeploy the equipment. This decision will be made on the consideration of operational priority and what is the best value for the UK taxpayer.
	The Ministry of Defence has a classification system which highlights which UK equipment and materiel that is currently in Afghanistan is potentially attractive to criminal or terrorist organisations (ACTO). If equipment and materiel are classified as ACTO, extra measures are put in place to safeguard them against utilisation by any criminal or terrorist organisations.

Armed Forces: Equipment and Vehicles

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the European Union, the United Nations, and Afghan and other agencies based in Afghanistan to determine the feasibility of transferring and donating to them equipment and vehicles surplus to United Kingdom needs, including hard accommodation, furnishings, storage structures, tents, and other materiel adaptable for humanitarian and peace-keeping use.

Baroness Northover: As the drawdown of Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team begins, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and DfID will look constructively at the possibility of gifting equipment and assets to Afghan and international partners.
	The Ministry of Defence will take decisions on what to do with defence equipment on a case-by-case basis, taking into account value for money for the UK taxpayer and co-ordinating with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, International Security Action Force and the Afghan Government to ensure that all gifted equipment is sustainable in terms of cost of ownership, support and capability.

Armed Forces: Royal Air Force Regiment

Lord Rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the annual cost of the Royal Air Force Regiment; what is the role of the Royal Air Force Regiment; and how its activities will fit into the Army 2020 plans.

Lord Astor of Hever: The RAF Regiment is a fully integral part of the RAF, providing air-related force protection in the UK and on operations abroad. The annual cost of the core RAF Regiment force is around £120 million.
	Specific roles include force protection for airfields and the surrounding ground defence areas in operational theatres in order to prevent stand-off attack against airfields and aircraft on approach and departure; provision of a very high readiness, defence-wide, specialist chemical, biological radiological and nuclear (CBRN) capability and providing protection for the helicopters that undertake the medical emergency response team (MERT) role. Additionally, the RAF Regiment's Queen's Colour Squadron is the RAF's principal ceremonial unit for public duties, alongside its other role as a field squadron.
	In the context of Army 2020, in addition to its other roles, the RAF Regiment will contribute to air-land integration by providing a significant proportion of high readiness forward air controllers and tactical air control parties and all specialist CBRN capabilities.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 12 March (WA 48), what financial support is available to asylum seekers while their cases are being decided.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Asylum seekers who are destitute can apply to the Home Office for support. The support usually consists of accommodation and a weekly allowance to meet the person's essential living needs. However, persons who have found their own accommodation, for example through friends or relatives, can apply for the weekly allowance only.
	The table below sets out the current weekly allowances provided to asylum seekers and various categories of dependants that may also be supported.
	
		
			 Levels of cash support from 18 April 2011 
			  £ 
			 Single person 
			 Aged 18 or over (excluding lone parent) 36.62 
			 Aged 25 years or over (excluding lone parent), where the decision to provide cash support was made before5 October 2009 and the person reached age 25 prior to that date. 42.62 
			 Qualifying couples 
			 Both 18 years or over 72.52 
			 Lone parent age 18 or over 
			 Age 18 or over 43.94 
			 Personal allowance for dependent children 
			 Person aged under 16 52.96 
			 Person aged 16 but under 18 (except where the person is a member of a Qualifying Couple) 39.80 
		
	
	In addition, asylum seekers who have young children aged between one and three years are eligible to receive an extra £3 per week per child. Children aged less than one year attract an extra £5 per week per child. Asylum seekers can also apply for a maternity payment of £300 to help with the costs arising from the birth of a child.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what, if any, reduction there has been in the number of caseworkers interviewing and processing asylum applications in the past 12 months; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such reduction on the quality and speed at which asylum claims are processed.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information required on caseworker numbers in the now former agency, henceforth referred to as the Home Office, is not held in a format compatible with the request. However the Home Office does publish data against 15 key performance measures. Specifically,
	asylum intake;work in progress (WiP) cases;intake;asylum support costs;productivity;asylum unit cost;initial decisions in 30 days;cases concluded in six months;cases concluded in 12 months;cases concluded in 35 months;cases removed in 12 months;decision quality;appeal representation rate;appeal win rate; andasylum grant rate.
	Our most recent published statistics on speed and quality of decisions are at the link below: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/further-key-data/asylum-performancel.xls?view=Binary.
	The statistics show an asylum system which is performing steadily on quality and speed. On speed, although performance on initial decisions within 30 days fell slightly in FY11-12, conclusions overall are performing well:
	asylum cases concluded within 12 months (up from 56% in FY 10-11, to 63% in FY 11-12);asylum cases concluded within 36 months (up from 63% in FY 10-11, to 70% in FY 11-12); and asylum cases concluded within six months steady at 53% in FYs 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	Decision quality also rose from 88% in financial year FY 2010-11 to 89% in FY 2011-12.
	To build on this, and further improve performance, the Home Office is implementing a new asylum operating model. This will see caseworkers concentrated in a smaller number of casework hubs with greater co-ordination and specialisation. Ahead of this, the Asylum Casework Directorate has initiated a national performance drive across all regional offices which is expected to show further improved performance in the next set of figures to be published.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what benefits have been realised from co-operation between the UK Border Agency and Asylum Aid on the Right First Time project.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Right First Time pilot was one of a number of recent initiatives in which the Home Office and refugee groups have worked together to make improvements to the asylum system.
	Recommendations resulting from the pilot were not rolled out nationally following the conclusion of the pilot. However, findings from the project will be reviewed afresh in conjunction with the Early Legal Advice pilot evaluation, which is due to be published shortly. We will then consider whether further improvements can be made to the asylum system based on the lessons learnt and information gained from both pilots.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Afghan citizens who have served the British military or other British government body in Afghanistan have applied for asylum or residence in the United Kingdom in each of the last six years; and how many have been given permission to remain in the United Kingdom.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Information about the previous occupations of asylum applicants can be provided only by examining individual case records, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Asylum Seekers: Homosexuality

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 12 March (WA 56), how many homosexual individuals have been removed to countries where homosexuality is or was a criminal offence since 2003, regardless of whether there is or was "no real risk of persecution or of the authorities taking action against gay people in such countries".

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: This information is not available. The sexual orientation of asylum applicants is not formally recorded for management information purposes, although the sexual orientation of the individual would of course be taken into account should it be relevant to their asylum claim.

Badgers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 13 March (WA 63) regarding badger culling, whether the report to Ministers will be made public.

Lord De Mauley: The expert panel's report to Ministers will be published on the Defra website as soon as practically possible.

Bahrain

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of religious freedoms in Bahrain.

Baroness Warsi: Bahrain is a tolerant country. Freedom of worship is allowed and a diverse range of religions are practiced including Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism for example.

Banks: Cyprus

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government under which powers they have guaranteed deposits formerly held in the Cypriot Laiki Bank and recently transferred to the Bank of Cyprus UK, and why; how many deposit holders are involved; how much of each account is guaranteed; and, for how much HM Treasury is now liable in the event of the collapse of the Bank of Cyprus.

Lord Deighton: HM Government have not guaranteed any deposits that were formerly held in the Cypriot Laiki Bank that were recently transferred to the Bank of Cyprus UK. The transfer of deposits between Laiki Bank and Bank of Cyprus UK was an agreement reached between the two banks and was given effect by a transfer decree under Cypriot law. There were roughly 15,000 accounts transferred under this agreement. HM Government did not use any formal powers.
	Bank of Cyprus UK is a UK authorised bank, regulated and supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Eligible deposits are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000. The FSCS is funded by levies on firms authorised by the FCA and the PRA. It is not funded by HM Government or the taxpayer.
	As a UK bank, the Bank of Cyprus UK, in the event of a collapse, is subject to resolution under the special resolution regime, which was established by the Banking Act 2009. The Bank of England is the lead resolution authority in the UK and is responsible for resolving any failed UK bank. HM Treasury is not liable for the compensation of deposits in the event of a collapse of Bank of Cyprus UK.

Banks: Danske Bank

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Danske Bank has been permitted to issue bank notes in Northern Ireland under that name; if so, how many and what value of notes that bank has currently in issue; and what amount of backing assets are lodged with the Bank of England.

Lord Deighton: On 15 November 2012, Northern Bank Ltd changed its trading name to Danske Bank. The legal entity which is authorised to issue banknotes on a commercial basis remains Northern Bank Ltd. Northern Bank Ltd is not required to seek permission from HM Treasury or the Bank of England to change the branding of its notes.
	The overall value of commercially issued notes circulating in Northern Ireland on 28 February 2013 was £2.1 billion. Release of issuance data by individual bank is a matter for the banks themselves. Under the Scottish and Northern Ireland banknote regulations, authorised banks are required to hold backing assets for their notes at all times.

Banks: Green Investment Bank

Baroness Noakes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Green Investment Bank will be required to make disclosures relating to its risks and lending which are equivalent to those of banks which are regulated by the Financial Services Authority, including Pillar 3 disclosures.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Green Investment Bank is not under the same legal requirements on disclosure as banks regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The bank does, however, have in place robust arrangements to ensure it is highly transparent about its activities. The legislation we are taking through Parliament in relation to the bank will impose reporting requirements on the bank that go beyond its status as a public company. The bank will be treated as if it were a quoted company within the meaning of Section 385(2) of the Companies Act 2006 for the purposes of Chapters 4 and 4A of Part 10, and Parts 15 and 16 of that Act which are concerned with reporting requirements. In addition, the legislation will require the bank to report on the likely impact of its investment activities in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Banks: Lending

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have conducted a post-programme review of the economic effectiveness of HM Treasury's Project Merlin in promoting bank lending; and, if so, whether any lessons have been learnt.

Lord Newby: Project Merlin aimed to change bank culture by focusing banks on lending more to their business customers. The results show that it had a positive impact as the banks lent over £214 billion to UK businesses in 2011, while gross lending to SMEs was 13% higher than it was in 2010.
	However, the Government recognise that negotiated deals cannot be a permanent solution in a market economy. That is why the Government have moved towards initiatives that offer banks more of a direct financial incentive to lend.
	The enterprise finance guarantee scheme offers a Government guarantee that enables commercial banks to provide additional debt finance to small and medium-sized enterprises that lack sufficient security but can demonstrate that they have capacity to repay the loan. £200 million of loans were supported through the scheme in 2012.
	More recently, the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) was launched, designed to incentivise banks and building societies to boost their lending to UK households and non-financial companies. It does this by offering funding to banks and building societies for an extended period and encourages them to supply more credit by making more and cheaper funding available if they increase their lending.

Benefits

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 18 March (WA101), whether the requirement for self-employed claimants for benefits to provide relevant evidence of their earnings includes evidence of previous submission of a tax return; where such a tax form has never been submitted, what other types of evidence are acceptable; and whether self-employed status is retained by HM Revenue and Customs if no consequent tax returns are submitted or terminated.

Lord Deighton: Self-employed benefit claimants are required to submit evidence of their self-employment and the earnings derived from this. Such evidence could include tax returns but all available evidence will be taken into account, for example, interim accounts or financial statements prepared for other purposes. The Department for Work and Pensions' Decision Makers' Guide (Chapter 27) provides detailed guidance for assessors on how to establish income for benefits purposes1.
	If an individual who has registered as self-employed with HM Revenue & Customs fails to submit a tax return on time, this will result in penalties being charged rather than their registration being cancelled.
	1 http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch27.pdf

British Citizenship

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 6 February (WA 58), why the revised Life in the UK Test was launched on 25 March when the revised practice questions and answers book and separate study guide were published on 28 March.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Life in the UK test is based on the handbook Life in the UK: a guide for new residents which was published on 28 January 2013, eight weeks before the new test was launched on 25 March 2013. The handbook contains all the information necessary to pass the test.
	The Stationery Office (TSO) produces a study guide and a practice question and answer book, which supplement the handbook. These are not Home Office publications, although the Home Office is aware of their content and has confirmed their accuracy. TSO needed to check the content of these companion products against the official handbook after its publication to ensure they were of greatest use to the reader, and used its best endeavours to publish as soon as possible.

British Citizenship

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 6 February (WA 58), what evidence will be required as proof of English proficiency for applicants taking the Life in the UK Test from October 2013.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: From October 28 2013, applicants for indefinite leave to remain in the UK or naturalisation as British citizens will be required to pass the Life in the UK test and have an intermediate level English language speaking and listening qualification. Details of the new requirements, including acceptable qualifications, are contained in the statement of intent Knowledge of language and life in the UK for settlement and naturalisation, which was published on 8 April 2013 and is available in the House Library and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knowledge-of-language-and-life-in-the-uk-for-settlement-and-naturalisation-statement-of-intent.

Cayman Islands

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any issues are negatively affecting the relationship of the United Kingdom with the Government of the Cayman Islands; and, if so, what.

Baroness Warsi: The Government have a strong relationship with the Government of the Cayman Islands. In January, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), met the new Cayman Premier, Juliana O'Connor-Connolly, to discuss progress on strengthening public finances and co-operation on the ambitious agenda agreed at the joint ministerial council in December 2012. We are also engaging with the Cayman Islands Government on the agenda of the UK G8 presidency.

Charities

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have consulted the Charity Commission to ensure that organisations, including religious ones, that have a political agenda do not qualify for charitable status.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To be a charity, an organisation must have exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit. No organisation with a political purpose can be a charity as a matter of law. Charities can undertake political activities that support their charitable purposes where the trustees consider it to be an effective use of the charity's resources. Charities must not engage in party politics or support political parties or candidates. It is for the Charity Commission, as independent regulator, to intervene where a charity breaches these rules.

Child Poverty

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 14 March (WA 77), whether they will publish responses to the consultation Measuring Child Poverty where respondents have not requested that their submissions be kept private.

Lord Freud: As I stated in my previous reply, this was an open consultation and we are considering each response seriously. We anticipate we will publish a summary of the responses to the consultation alongside the Government's response. A decision on whether or not to go beyond standard practice and publish all responses will be taken in due course.

Child Protection

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the Munro review of Child Protection.

Lord Nash: Of the 15 recommendations made by Professor Munro, five have been implemented in full, including:
	the redesign of the inspection framework for services to safeguard children; publication of a revised children's safeguarding performance information framework; new guidance issued on the role of directors of children's services and lead members; stopping the evaluation by Ofsted of serious case reviews; and implementation of the professional capabilities framework for social workers.
	The publication of revised statutory guidance on safeguarding children will provide a full response to a further four recommendations:
	revision of Working Together to Safeguard Children and The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, including greater focus on the offer of early help;strengthening the role and responsibilities of Local Safeguarding Children's Boards (LSCBs) requiring LSCBs to produce an annual report submitted to the chief executive and leader of the council; andpromoting the use of systems methodology in undertaking serious case reviews.
	Substantial progress is being made on implementing other key recommendations, including:
	ongoing work with the Department of Health to safeguard and promote children's welfare during the health reforms;supporting local areas in the redesign of their social work practice, including designating a principal child and family social worker; andcommencing the recruitment process for two chief social workers, one to focus on children and families social work and the other on adult social work.
	With regard to Professor Munro's recommendation on introducing a duty to secure sufficient provision of early help services, the Government concluded that there is sufficient legislation in place to realise this offer. We are continuing to work with sector partners to reinforce existing legislation and understand how progress on early help can be made.

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of self-employed contractors used by the Children and Family Advisory and Support Service in each of the previous five years.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate the Children and Family Advisory and Support Service has made of the size of the self-employed children's guardian workforce in each of the previous five years.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria the Children and Family Advisory and Support Service uses to decide whether to use self-employed contractors.

Lord Nash: These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). I have asked the chief executive of CAFCASS to write to the noble Lord and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Children: Cyber Safety

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase understanding and awareness amongst parents and guardians of the cyber safety issues facing their children.

Lord Nash: Through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, the Government have been working with industry, academia, charities and parenting groups to develop consistent advice for parents and guardians to keep children safe from online risks. Members have created a range of resources for children, teachers and parents. This includes innovative projects from individual members such as Vodafone's Digital Parenting magazine, which is distributed to thousands of parents and which contains practical "how to" guides on setting up parental controls and privacy settings on a range of services such as Xbox and Facebook, and Childnet's "Know it all" set of resources which has specific resource for parents. UKCCIS Ministers continue to press industry to do more-for example, asking internet service providers to work together on an awareness campaign.

Children: Looked-after Children

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are ensuring that local authorities use the pupil premium to support looked-after children who are not enrolled at a mainstream provider, in line with each child's personal education plan or statement.

Lord Nash: I refer the noble Lord to the reply given to his question HL6281 on 10 April 2013 (Official Report, col. WA 270).

Children: Nurseries

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the quality of childcare in the nation's nurseries remains high under their plans to increase the ratio of children to carers.

Lord Nash: The Government's ratio proposals will give nurseries greater freedom to employ more high quality and better paid staff if they wish. Only nurseries with well-qualified staff will be able to move to the new ratios. We are clear that quality and safety are paramount-and evidence tells us that children are safest and develop best when they are looked after by high quality staff.

Children: Safeguarding Children

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Nash on 21 March (WS 36), how they intend to ensure that street-connected children and runaways are fully supported under their new statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.

Lord Nash: The revised Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance, published on 21 March 2013, clarifies the core legal requirements on individuals and organisations to keep children safe. It sets out, in one place, the legal requirements that health services, social workers, police, schools and other organisations that work with children, must follow-and emphasises that safeguarding is the responsibility of all professionals who work with children.
	It is supported by the 2009 statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care. This guidance sets out what local authorities should do to reduce the incidence of children running away, what should happen when a child runs away and what should happen when the child is found. These measures are designed to improve the safeguarding of children. This guidance is currently being revised and will be reissued later in 2013.

Climate Change

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Verma on 14 January (WA 110), 5 February (WA 31-2) and 21 March (WA 170-1), whether they will ensure that their assessment of the probability in relation to global temperatures of a linear trend with first-order autoregressive noise compared with a driftless third-order autoregressive integrated model is published in the Official Report; and, if not, why not.

Lord Newby: As indicated in a previous Written Answer given by my noble friend Baroness Verma to the noble Lord on 14 January 2013 (Official Report, col. WA110), it is the role of the scientific community to assess and decide between various methods for studying global temperature time series. It is also for the scientific community to publish the findings of such work, in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Community Organisers

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government in which locations, and in which local authority areas, community organisers are in place.

Baroness Northover: The locations of community organisers and their hosts are published on the community organisers website at http://www.cocollaborative.org.uk/ meet-us.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: Conferences

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost to HM Treasury of the attendance of the United Kingdom CITES delegation at the recent conference in Bangkok.

Lord De Mauley: The UK delegation to the 16th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was made up of 14 officials. This included experts from the UK Scientific Authorities (Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), UK Border Force, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency and Defra.
	The estimated cost of the UK delegation's attendance is £70,000, which covered travel, accommodation, office and equipment hire, subsistence and other expenses and, where relevant, overtime payments.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: Conferences

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government, given that CITES falls under the United Nations Environment Programme and that secret ballots are unusual within the United Nations system, why virtually all votes taken at CITES are by secret ballot, including the vote taken to maintain the practice of secret ballots; and whether they will reveal how the United Kingdom delegation to CITES CoP16 voted on all issues.

Lord De Mauley: The majority of decisions taken by parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are by consensus. This was the case at CoP16. Unlike many other environmental treaties and organisations, the CITES Rules of Procedure contain agreed voting provisions that apply when consensus cannot be reached. This includes provision for secret ballots where a request for secret ballot is supported by at least 10 countries. Where a vote is taken and this is not by secret ballot, the way in which a country votes is recorded in the summary record and is publicly available. The EU, fully supported by the UK, tabled proposals to reduce the use of secret ballots to improve transparency. Although debated at considerable length the UK was very disappointed that these proposals were not adopted. However, the need for greater transparency was acknowledged.
	While the majority of decisions taken by parties at CoP16 were by consensus there were still a significant number of votes, of which many were by secret ballot. The UK, voting in line with a common position of the EU and its member states, in general voted in favour of proposals to improve species conservation in line with scientific evidence. Additionally the UK, in line with the EU, supported proposals that strengthened the operations and governance of CITES, including improved transparency.
	On more than one occasion where a secret ballot was subsequently held at CoP16, Ireland, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, made a point of publicly declaring the vote of the EU member states and Croatia, which would have included the UK position. A number of other countries similarly publicly confirmed their vote. These are a matter of public record in the Summary Records of CoP16 produced by the CITES Secretariat. If there are specific votes taken at CoP16 by secret ballot for which clarification of the UK position would be helpful, my officials would be happy to respond to such requests.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: Conferences

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they argued at the CITES conference in Bangkok in favour of the uplifting of protection of polar bears.

Lord De Mauley: EU member states take a common position on proposals submitted to Conferences of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
	The UK found merit in the USA's proposal to up-list the polar bear from Appendix II to Appendix I of CITES, submitted to the recent Conference of Parties (CoP16). The UK delegation at CoP16 worked with other member states to agree an EU position that would provide additional protection for the polar bear in a way that would better reflect evolving scientific knowledge and trade data. The EU, therefore, tabled an alternative proposal with the same aim as the USA proposal of ensuring that polar bears are not threatened by international trade and which it was hoped would secure the support of all polar bear range states.
	Despite several meetings held to promote this alternative proposal during the conference and lobbying by the EU, it was not possible to gain the support of all polar bear range states for this alternative. Neither the USA proposal nor the EU alternative proposal received sufficient support by CITES parties to be adopted, so the CITES controls regulating international trade in polar bears and their products remain unchanged.

Cyprus

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 28 November 2012 (WA 59), whether, in the light of the current financial crisis in the Republic of Cyprus, they have confidence in the most recent evaluation by the regional financial action task force body, MONEYVAL.

Lord Deighton: The MONEYVAL assessment team that undertook the evaluation of Cyprus included members of the MONEYVAL secretariat and experts in the areas of criminal law, law enforcement and regulation from Armenia, Malta, Hungary, the UK and the US.
	The UK is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The International Monetary Fund and World Bank, when assessing the quality and consistency of MONEYVAL's reports (2006), found that the content of MONEYVAL's reports, with respect to their description and analysis, were of an acceptable standard across all reports assessed, with a high incidence of good quality. However, the FATF standards against which Cyprus was assessed were focused on the country's technical compliance; that is, whether Cyprus had anti-money-laundering and terrorist-financing laws in place that met the requirements. The most recent evaluation of Cyprus did not look at how effective these laws were implemented in practice.
	A new methodology for assessing jurisdictions' compliance, adopted in February 2013, requires an integrated analysis of the effectiveness of countries anti-money-laundering regimes as well as their technical compliance.
	All members of FATF and FATF-style regional bodies, including MONEYVAL, will be assessed against the new methodology in the future.

Cyprus

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they fulfil their role as a guarantor power with respect to Cyprus under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee; and on what basis they consult the other two guarantor nations.

Baroness Warsi: As a guarantor power, the UK regularly discusses Cyprus with the other signatories of the treaty of guarantee. The Government will continue to work with the parties concerned towards a just, comprehensive and lasting Cyprus settlement.

Cyprus

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government, as a guarantor power for Cyprus under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, what amendments have been made to that treaty; when those amendments were made; and whether each amendment was made with the agreement of both communities in Cyprus.

Baroness Warsi: There have been no amendments made to the 1960 treaty of guarantee since it was signed in Nicosia on 16 August 1960.

Cyprus

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what rights the two communities in Cyprus have with respect to natural resources within Cypriot territorial boundaries, including territorial waters, under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee; and specifically whether benefits derived from oil and gas resources within territorial waters are accessible to both communities pro rata.

Baroness Warsi: The 1960 treaty of guarantee covers the independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Cyprus. It does not specify any rights for the two communities with respect to natural resources. It remains our view that such natural resources should be developed for the benefit of all the communities in Cyprus.

Disabled People: Independent Living Equipment

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that NHS staff, and staff providing care to patients in all settings, receive training in the use of disability and independent living equipment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they monitor how many fatalities, injuries, or avoidable secondary episodes of care occur in NHS and care settings because of the failure or misuse of disability and independent living equipment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many items of (1) disability equipment, and (2) independent living equipment, were issued by (a) the National Health Service, and (b) local authorities, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Code of Practice for Community Equipment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to promote the safer use of community disability equipment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) fatalities, (2) injuries, and (3) avoidable secondary episodes requiring care, have taken place in each of the last five years for which figures are available due to the (a) failure, and (b) misuse, of disability and independent living equipment, in (i) hospital settings, (ii) care homes, (iii) special and mainstream schools, and (iv) people's own homes.

Earl Howe: It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure that their staff are appropriately trained and competent for the role that they perform. We would therefore expect staff providing care in all settings to promote the safe and appropriate use of all equipment or medical devices, and expect providers of regulated health and adult social care to ensure that staff who use such devices:
	are aware of the associated risks; andhave access to training and support to develop and maintain their knowledge and skills.
	In addition, all providers of regulated health and adult social care activities in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and meet the essential requirements of safety and quality. The requirements include making suitable arrangements to protect people who use services from the risk of harm caused by unsafe equipment or incorrect use of equipment. CQC can take enforcement action where a provider is not meeting the requirements.
	CQC is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the requirements and has published its Guidance About Compliance, including a schedule of applicable publications, which is available on its website.
	The department is aware of the community equipment code of practice scheme (CECOPS) and the Secretary of State has corresponded with its chair, Sir Bert Massie. While it is for the local NHS, social care providers, voluntary sector organisations and other key partners to determine local priorities, the code of practice is a useful tool which the department will bring to the attention of NHS England and other partners as part of ongoing discussions.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the competent authority in the United Kingdom for the EC medical devices directive (MDD). Where disability and independent living equipment are class 1 medical devices, when initially placed on the market they must comply with the essential safety, quality and performance requirements of the MDD. All medical devices must be supplied with appropriate instructions for use to enable them to be used safely and maintained appropriately. Manufacturers are required to maintain a post-market surveillance system to ensure that any problems or risks associated with the use of their devices once freely marketed are identified early and reported to the competent authorities and acted upon.
	The MHRA operates an adverse incident reporting centre for incidents involving medical devices to be reported by manufacturers, healthcare personnel and members of the public. Serious incidents may result in the MHRA issuing a medical device alert to advise users of specific problems or revised instructions for use. The MHRA also publishes device bulletins on specific issues, for example the safe use of bed rails in hospitals and care homes.
	Under the MDD, class 1 medical devices are able to be certified with a CE mark by the manufacturer, to demonstrate that the product meets essential quality, safety and performance requirements.
	The information requested on fatalities and injuries linked to use of equipment is not kept centrally.

Drones

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the joint study by Stanford University and New York University on United States drone practices in Pakistan; and what plans they have to help minimise the impact of drone strikes on the civilian population of Pakistan.

Baroness Warsi: The British Government are aware of the study. The Government's position is that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) against terrorist targets is a matter for the states involved. We expect all concerned to act in accordance with international law including taking all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties when conducting military operations.

Dyslexia

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) school-centred, (2) School Direct Training Programme, (3) School Direct Training Programme (salaried), (4) undergraduate course, (5) postgraduate course, and (6) online course, initial teacher training providers include dyslexia modules as part of their programmes of study.

Lord Nash: We do not hold information centrally on the number of teacher training providers that offer courses in dyslexia. In relation to teacher training, individual initial teacher training (ITT) providers decide how the content of ITT courses will enable trainees to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and meet the Teachers' Standards. The standards, available at www. education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/teachers%20standards.pdf, state that teachers must be able to "adapt [their] teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils". The standards include an emphasis on the ability to teach children with a range of special needs, including dyslexia.

Dyslexia

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the support available to teachers to assist pupils with dyslexia and other literacy difficulties.

Lord Nash: The Government are committed to improving the quality of training teachers receive to enable them to better identify all areas of special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities and to overcome the barriers to learning that some children and young people face.
	The Department for Education is providing practical help for teachers to recognise and support children with dyslexia, these include:
	developing through the Training and Development Agency for Schools and its successor specialist resources for initial teacher training and new advanced level online modules on dyslexia, to enhance teachers' knowledge, understanding and skills;working with organisations like the Dyslexia SpLD Trust to make sure these resources are widely used by teachers;providing £1.3 million to Dyslexia Action and the RNIB over two years to make more than 650 texts from the curriculum available in digital format for dyslexic learners, visually impaired pupils and others; andthrough our National Scholarship Fund, we are supporting teachers to undertake postgraduate level qualifications in specific impairments; many apply to undertake masters-level training in dyslexia.
	In addition, the department is supporting high-quality teaching of systematic, synthetic phonics which has been shown to be effective for teaching dyslexic pupils to read and write. These include:
	match-funding of up to £3,000 for approved phonics materials for key stage 1 pupils;training and support to ensure that all newly qualified teachers are confident about teaching phonics; anda phonics screening check introduced in July 2012 to help teachers identify pupils who have not made the expected progress in phonics.

Education Act 1996

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what account they will take in their consideration of the repeal of Section 444(b) of the Education Act 1996 of the case for providing opportunities for distance learning for the children of travelling families to enable them to receive an improved education.

Lord Nash: We have consulted on whether to repeal Section 444(6) of the Education Act 1996, which provides a defence for travelling families in certain circumstances if their children are absent from school. This consultation has now closed and we are reviewing all the responses we have received, including those about distance learning.

Education: 16-18 Year-olds

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government, for the latest year available, how many 16-18 year-olds in England achieved an academic Level 3 qualification; and, of those, how many attended (1) independent schools, (2) maintained community schools with sixth forms, (3) academies with sixth forms, (4) sixth form colleges, (5) general further education colleges, (6) specialist colleges, and (7) other institutions.

Lord Nash: The information requested is given in the table below.
	
		
			 Level 3 results1 of students2 aged 16 to 183 by institution type 
			 Year: 2011-12 (revised) 
			 Coverage: England 
			 Institution Type Number of students aged 16 to 18 achieving a Level 3 qualification at least equivalent in size to one GCE A level or Applied A level Number of students aged 16 to 18 achieving an academic4 Level 3 qualification at least equivalent in size to one GCE A level or Applied A level 
			 (1) All independent schools 36,475 36,323 
			 (2) Local authority-maintained mainstream schools5 98,213 89,248 
			 (3) Academies with sixth forms6 70,273 64,072 
			 All FE sector colleges, of which 178,231 79,555 
			 of which 
			 (4) Sixth form colleges 61,277 52,825 
			 (5) Other FE sector colleges7 116,954 26,730 
			 of which 
			 (6) Specialist colleges8 4,294 291 
			 (7) Other institutions 774 535 
		
	
	Source: 2011/12 Key Stage 5 attainment data (revised)
	1 Cumulative results obtained in academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	2 Students entered for a GCE A-level, Applied A-level or other Level 3 qualification equivalent in size to an A-level.
	3 Age in years at the start of the 2011-12 academic year, i.e. 31 August 2011.
	4 An academic qualification is a GCE A-level. Applied A-level, International Baccalaureate, Pre-U or AQA Baccalaureate.
	5 Community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and foundation schools.
	6 Includes sponsored academies and converter academies.
	7 Further education sector college (not sixth form colleges); other government department funded colleges; special colleges.
	8 Includes agriculture and horticulture colleges and art, design and performing art colleges.

Education: National Curriculum

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to address concerns that the new national curriculum will affect pupils negatively at a young age as a result of its emphasis on memorising lists of facts, numbers and rules.

Lord Nash: The proposed new national curriculum aims to democratise knowledge by ensuring that all pupils can lay claim to a rich intellectual inheritance. The programmes of study for each subject focus on the essential knowledge that all pupils should acquire, in order to give them the best possible start in life. Those for primary English, mathematics and science-the essential building blocks of education-have been bench-marked against age-related expectations found in the curricula of the highest-performing educational jurisdictions. Our intention is to set the same level of expectation for our own children.
	At the same time, the new national curriculum gives teachers more freedom to teach this essential knowledge in ways that inspire pupils and support their understanding and application of knowledge.
	We are currently consulting on our proposals: the consultation closes on 16 April. We will consider all the arguments put forward before we finalise the new national curriculum later this year.

Education: Personal, Social and Health Education

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the outcome of their 2011 review of Personal, Social and Health Education will be published.

Lord Nash: The outcome of the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) review was published on 21 March. Copies of the summary report of the results of the public consultation have been placed in the House Libraries.

Education: Special Educational Needs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a child who currently has a statement of special educational needs will automatically be issued with an education, health and care plan; or whether such a child's needs will be subject to reassessment.

Lord Nash: Provisions in the Children and Families Bill put a duty on local authorities to prepare and implement Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans for all children and young people assessed as needing support beyond that which is normally available in mainstream education.
	We want to be sure that the changeover from statements and learning disability assessments (LDAs) to EHC plans happens at a pace that allows for a smooth transition while maintaining the quality of existing services. To achieve this, we believe it will be necessary to adopt a phased approach.
	We are currently gathering views from pathfinders and other interested parties on how to manage the transition. We want to do this in a way that is achievable for local authorities and others involved in the assessment process and which minimises burdens on children, young people and their families while allowing them to benefit as quickly as possible from the reforms.
	In the latter part of this year, we will consult more widely on a draft order relating to the transfer of children and young people with statements and LDAs to EHC plans. We anticipate that the order will cover arrangements relating to:
	the sequence in which groups of children and young people with statements will be transferred to education, health and care plans; the approach to assessment for the purposes of transfer to education, health and care plans;the date by when all existing statements should be phased out;any elements of the current code of practice guidance that might remain in force during the transition; andthe information and advice that will be available to support parents and young people during the transition process.

Education: Special Educational Needs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific training and guidance they offer to (1) schools, and (2) local authorities, with regard to (a) carrying out, (b) making, (c) reassessing, (d) amending, or (e) cancelling (i) a statutory assessment of a child's special educational needs (both wholly or in part) and (ii) a statement of a child's special educational needs; (f) changing, or (g) naming (or not naming) a school (or the type of school) named in a statement of a child's special educational needs; and (h) amending a statement of a child's special educational needs following (i) an annual review and (ii) a reassessment of a child's special educational needs.

Lord Nash: The Secretary of State publishes a Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice, which provides statutory guidance to schools, local authorities and others. This includes guidance on assessing children's SEN, drawing up, amending and ceasing SEN statements, naming a particular or type of school on a statement and conducting annual reviews. The current Code of Practice was published in 2001 and is available at https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/ standard/publicationDetail/Pagel/DfES%200 581 %202001.
	The department has published an illustrative draft version of a new code for the Children and Families Bill Committee which reflects the proposed new arrangements for assessments and Education, Health and Care Plans, which will replace SEN statements. It is available at: http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/sen%20code%20of%20practice% 20indicative020draff/020for°/020committee.pdf.
	In 2010 the department published non-statutory guidance on writing statements. Otherwise, it is for schools and local authorities to arrange training on SEN depending on their local needs and priorities.

Employer Ownership Pilot

Lord Knight of Weymouth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons have been learnt from the first round of the Employer Ownership Pilot, and whether the second round will take account of any such assessment.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: We have made a number of changes to the focus and administration of the pilot in light of round 1. We have maintained the overarching spirit of the pilot to give employers greater ownership of innovative skills solutions, but we have adapted our processes better to meet a range of needs. These include an option to submit an outline bid for comment before working up a full bid; building on the strong collaborative bids in round 1 by further seeking ambitious industrial partnership bids; aligning the fund with the Growth and Innovation Fund to create a single application process; and exploring ways to further reduce the burden on business in information provision.

Employment: Jobcentre Plus

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Freud at col. 944 of the Official Report on 25 March, how may Jobcentre Plus offices were open on Sunday 10 March; how many mothers were called in for interview on that day; how many failed to attend; and how many of those had benefits sanctioned.

Lord Freud: One jobcentre was open on Sunday 10 March 2013. Harrogate had 20 claimants booked in for interviews; of these 11 attended. We are unable to say which of these were mothers. No sanctions for failing to attend have been given. All staff working on that day were mothers.

Employment: Jobcentre Plus

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Jobcentre Plus offices prior to March 2013 operated targets and league tables relating to the extent to which their staff sanction jobseekers.

Lord Freud: The Stricter Benefit Regime (SBR) was introduced alongside jobseeker's allowance back in 1996. The SBR regime was refreshed in 2006 with intensified benchmark targets. We removed benchmarks in April 2011 as we believe there are no right levels for sanctions. However, we continue to collect management information to support the consistent application of the rules across the jobcentre network. SBR has been superseded by a new conditionality and sanctions regime from 2012 which uses a graduated sanction to enforce the conditionality that all jobseeker's allowance claimants are subject to. There are no targets.

Energy: Renewable Energy

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to reduce renewable energy subsidies with a view to reducing fuel poverty and industrial energy costs in the United Kingdom; and whether they are constrained in pursuing such a policy by European Union Renewable Energy Directive 2009.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government have reduced subsidies for renewable technologies as their costs fall and this will continue as appropriate. Our ultimate aim is to see renewables competing against fossil fuel energy without subsidy, and we have a range of policies in place to accelerate that process. The renewable energy directive does not set subsidy levels or constrain our choice of subsidy scheme.

EU: Roma Communities

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to engage in dialogue with the European Union in order to address the issues encountered by Roma communities both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe.

Baroness Warsi: The Government work closely with the European Commission and other EU member states on issues relating to Roma. For example, the Department for Communities and Local Government represented the UK at meetings of National Roma Contact Points in October 2012 and March 2013, which were chaired by the European Commission, and brought together officials from all the EU member states. The National Roma Contact Points were set up following the EU's adoption of Council conclusions on national Roma integration strategies in 2011 and are responsible for co-ordinating national efforts to improve the situation for Roma communities, for tracking the progress made under the national Roma integration strategy and for reporting to the European Commission.
	We have also supported initiatives of other international organisations such as that of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe which hosted a round table last September to discuss "Overcoming barriers to integration of migrant, minority and Roma and Sinti women into their communities and into society as a whole". Also, government representatives and education experts on the Council of Europe Roma experts' group visited the Czech Republic and Slovakia to look at inclusive education in 2012 and arrangements were made for the Council of Europe's Roma mediator training programme to come to the UK.
	Central to our international efforts to combat discrimination against Roma communities are our embassies in central and eastern Europe. In the Czech Republic, our embassy, working with colleagues from Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia, as well as local non-governmental organisations, organised a day of events last year to highlight positive role models from Roma communities and to consider how best to promote positive images of Roma through the media.

Finance: Early and Prompt Payment Schemes

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council and other local authorities regarding the financial benefits of early payment schemes for suppliers.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the potential revenue to local authorities from rebates from suppliers for early payment of invoices.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have given to local authorities regarding early and prompt payment schemes.

Baroness Hanham: The Government encourage local authorities to explore innovative ways of securing efficiency savings and supporting their local economy through their procurement expenditure. The Government, in partnership with sector bodies, recently launched a competition-best councils to do business with-to recognise those local authorities that are doing the most to open up their procurement practices to small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the assessment criteria was whether the local authority has a prompt payment policy in place for small businesses.
	Amended late payment legislation also came into force on 16 March 2013. Under the new rules debtors will be forced to pay interest and reimburse the reasonable recovery costs of the creditor, if they do not pay for goods and services on time. For local authorities, this period is 30 days.

Flooding

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 21 March (WA 174), what assessment they have made of the costs and benefits of managing floods across Curry Moor as compared to maintenance and remedial measures to mitigate or prevent such floods.

Lord De Mauley: The Environment Agency is assessing the costs and benefits of managing and mitigating flood risk across Curry Moor. It plans to have completed this work in time to present it at the Wessex Regional Flood and Coastal Committee on 22 April.

Fluoridation

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of differences in (1) dental health, and (2) general health, between the populations of Birmingham and Manchester over the last 30 years; and whether they assign any differences between those populations to the presence of fluoride in drinking water in Birmingham.

Earl Howe: Since Birmingham's first water fluoridation scheme started in 1964, levels of dental decay have been consistently lower than in Manchester which has a similar socioeconomic profile, but does not have a fluoridation scheme. By way of illustration, the most recently readily available comparable statistics from child dental surveys conducted as part of the National Health Service Dental Epidemiology Programme (NHSDEP) show that in 2005-06, five year-old children in the area served by Birmingham City Council had an average of 1.36 decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMFT) compared to an average of 2.39 DMFT in the area of Manchester City Council. Evidence that the protective effect of water fluoridation is maintained during the development of permanent teeth may be seen from a later NHSDEP survey which showed that, in 2008-09, 12 year-old children in Birmingham had an average DMFT of 0.65 compared to an average of 1.12 DMFT for children in Manchester. Health profiles maintained by Public Health England show that there are no significant differences in the general health of the population of Manchester and Birmingham.

Food: Food Banks

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide financial or other support for food banks.

Lord De Mauley: The Government are not considering the provision of funding to support food banks. We do, however, recognise the good work of organisations that redistribute surplus food to help reduce food poverty, assist the homeless and provide access to nutritional meals for those who may otherwise struggle. In addition, most major retailers already have partnerships with redistribution charities. In 2012, Defra held a meeting with retailers and food distribution charities to explore the current barriers to redistribution and the Waste and Resources Action Programme has recently begun working with Fareshare and FoodCycle to deliver a trial to increase food distribution from retail stores.
	Although not supported centrally, local authorities have the ability to fund food banks if they consider that this would benefit their local community.

Fostering

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relative effectiveness of transracial and same-race fostering of black and minority ethnic children; and what evidence has been used in any such assessment.

Lord Nash: There has been no specific assessment made of the relative effectiveness of transracial and same-race fostering of black and minority ethnic children.
	Children requiring foster care come from a wide range of backgrounds, and the Government are committed to encouraging people from all backgrounds and walks of life to come forward to foster children, whatever their ethnic background.
	When placing a child in foster care, the local authority must give due consideration to the child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background. These factors should be considered in the context of the full range of the child's needs, in order to determine the most appropriate placement to safeguard and promote the child's welfare.

Further Education: Technical Skills

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between academic achievement and technical skill levels in the United Kingdom manufacturing and industrial workforce and changes in productivity, efficiency and innovation during the period 1950 to 2000.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Government are not aware of any relevant assessment for the specific period requested. However, evidence looking at other time periods shows that skills are central to delivering strong, sustainable and balanced growth. For example, the Gröningen Growth and Development Centre estimates that improvements in skills added 0.4 percentage points to UK growth between 2000 and 2007, at least twice that of countries such as USA, France and Germany.
	Research published by the department to estimate the economic impact of the government-funded post-19 further education (FE) sector suggested that FE participants that started a qualification in 2008-09 will generate an additional £75 billion for the economy over their working lives, over and above what they would have contributed if they had not achieved these qualifications. The full report, Measuring the Economic Impact of Further Education, can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32329/11-816-measuring-economic-impact-further-education.pdf.
	Further research also highlights the economic benefits from a range of academic and vocational qualifications. Two reports, Returns to Intermediate and Low Level Vocational Qualifications and The Long Term Effect of Vocational Qualifications on Labour Market Outcomes, can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32354/11-1282-returns-intermediate-and-low-level-vocational-qualifications.pdf and https://www. gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32326/11-1035-long-term- effect-of-vocational-qualifications.pdf .

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of materials for repair of water and sewage infrastructure currently being allowed to enter Gaza.

Baroness Northover: A recent report from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs highlighted that the quality of infrastructure and vital services in Gaza, including in the areas of water and sanitation, have significantly declined as a result of import restrictions and rapid population growth.
	UK officials regularly discuss the issue of access to water with Israeli counterparts, and call on Israel to allow entry of essential items on the dual-use list to allow for rehabilitation of the water network in Gaza.

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of incursions into and attacks on the people of Gaza by Israel since the ceasefire following Operation Pillar of Cloud.

Baroness Warsi: We have made clear to Israel our long-standing concerns about the manner in which the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) polices the buffer zone between Israel and Gaza.
	In the context of recent cases of Palestinian civilians killed by the IDF in both Gaza and the West Bank, officials from our embassy in Tel Aviv have reiterated our concerns over the IDF's use of live ammunition with both the Israeli Ministry of Defence and National Security Council. This issue was also raised by the national security adviser, Sir Kim Darroch, in his meetings with the Israeli authorities during his visit on 26-28 February.

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of rockets fired into Southern Israel from Gaza since the ceasefire following Operation Pillar of Cloud.

Baroness Warsi: We received reports from our embassy in Tel Aviv and our consulate-general in Jerusalem about rockets being fired on 26 February from Gaza into Israel, for the first time since the ceasefire agreement was reached on 21 November 2012. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire, Mr Burt, released a Statement on 27 February condemning the rocket fire and calling on both parties to respect in full their obligations under the ceasefire agreement. We have also received reports that on 21 March and 3 April rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel.

Global Conflict Prevention Pool

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were (1) the objectives, and (2) the annual budget, of the Global Conflict Prevention Pool for each of the past five years.

Baroness Northover: The Conflict Pool, which was formed in 2009 and is the successor to the Global and Africa Conflict Prevention Pools, (1) seeks to reduce the number of people around the world whose lives are, or might be affected by violent conflict. The pool funds discretionary conflict prevention, stabilisation and peacekeeping activities. Additionally the Conflict Pool aims to increase the effectiveness of the Government's engagement by bringing together the work of DfID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence. The Building Stability Overseas Strategy sets out the strategic framework for the Conflict Pool.
	(2) The annual total budget for the conflict pool for the past five years (including programme budgets and reserve funds) has been as follows:
	
		
			 FY2008-09* FY2009-10 FY 2010-11 FY 2011-12 FY 2012-13 
			 £114m £180.52m £178.5m £180m £209m 
		
	
	* In 2008-09 the Global Conflict Prevention Pool and the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool merged to become the Conflict Prevention Pool. A separate instrument, the Stabilisation Aid Fund (SAF), was created to provide resources for stabilisation activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008-09 the SAF budget was £71.6 million, of which £62.1 million was for Afghanistan and £9.5 million for Iraq. The SAF was merged into the Conflict Prevention Pool in FY 2009-10 and the latter renamed the Conflict Pool.

Global Conflict Prevention Pool

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the individual projects with which the Global Conflict Prevention Pool has engaged, and the costs of each project, in each of the past five years.

Baroness Northover: The Conflict Pool, the 2009 successor to the Global and Africa Conflict Prevention Pools, administers five geographic programmes in Afghanistan, Africa, south Asia, the Middle East and north Africa, and wider Europe, and one thematic programme-Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships. The Conflict Pool also funds the Stabilisation Unit (the Government's centre of expertise and best practice on stabilisation and home of the Civilian Stabilisation Group).
	The allocations for each of the programmes over the past five years are as follows:
	
		
			  Allocation FY 2008/09 Allocation FY 2009110 Allocation FY 2010//1 Allocation FY 2011/12 Allocation FY 2012/13 
			 Afghanistan In 2008-09 the Global and Africa Conflict Prevention Pools were merged to become the Conflict Prevention Pool and a new instrument, the Stabilisation Aid Fund, created to provide stabilisation resources for Afghanistan and Iraq. The latter was merged into the Conflict Prevention Pool in FY 09-10 and renamed the Conflict Pool. These funding mechanisms had different programmatic structures to the current Conflict Pool-see table below Funded from the South Asia programme. £67 million was allocated to Afghanistan £68.5m £68.5m £69.4rn 
			 Africa £40.53m £42.2m £33.1m £42.8m 
			 South Asia £83.56m £16.3m £15.5m £15.5m 
			 Middle East and North £ 17.36m £13.8m £11.4m £23.7m 
			 Wider Europe £32.81m £30.5m £27.5m £36.3m 
			 Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships* £6.26m £6.5m £5rn £8m 
			 Stabilisation Unit Funded, separately-no Conflict Pool Programme. £12m £12.170m 
		
	
	** Formerly the Strategic Support to International organisations Programme
	
		
			 Conflict Prevention Pool Programmes Allocation 
			  FY 2008-09 
			 Africa £68.5m 
			 Americas £1.8m 
			 Balkans £8.8m 
			 Middle East/North Africa £5.9m 
			 Russia/CIS £4.5m 
			 South Asia £8.4m 
			 Security and Small Arms Control £8.22m 
			 United Nations £7.12m 
		
	
	In 2012-13 the Conflict Pool has maintained a £20 million Early Action Facility for rapid funding to prevent unforeseen conflict prevention requirements and opportunities.
	The Conflict Pool has funded hundreds of projects within these programmes over the past five years. Ranging from small interventions costing thousands of pounds through to multi-million pound projects, the Conflict Pool maintains the Government's ability flexibly to fund the most appropriate and sensitive solution to conflict prevention. The information needed to detail each specific project with individual costs for the past five years is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Global Conflict Prevention Pool

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what governance structures apply to the Global Conflict Prevention Pool; who sits on any governance bodies relating to that initiative; and how any disagreements between the three departments involved are adjudicated.

Baroness Northover: The Building Stability Overseas Strategy provides the overarching strategy for the Conflict Pool. The strategy is jointly owned by the Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and International Development Secretary. The National Security Council agrees financial allocations for programmes.
	The Conflict Pool is overseen by the Building Stability Overseas Board (BSOB). This comprises directors from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (current chair), DfID, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office and was set up following the Strategic Defence and Security Review published in October 2010. The chair of the board rotates on an annual basis between the departments.
	The board recommends funding allocations to each of the five geographic programmes within the Conflict Pool (Africa, Afghanistan, south Asia, the Middle East and north Africa, and wider Europe) and a thematic programme-Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships-as well as the Stabilisation Unit. Each programme board is responsible for joint decision-making and oversight of programme delivery, and is chaired by a director-level or head of department senior responsible owner. Decisions on programme and strategy are taken tridepartmentally. Each project is managed by one of the three departments, with disbursement handled through that department's systems. This process is to become subject to formal junior ministerial oversight.
	Any departmental differences are resolved by programme boards or referred to the BSOB. The National Security Council provides the ultimate recourse for settling disagreements, although this has yet to prove necessary.

Government Departments: Consultants

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Department for International Development spent on management consultants in (1) 2007, and (2) 2012; and what were the reasons for any increase.

Baroness Northover: DfID spend on consultants in financial years 2007-08 and 2011-12 is set out in the table below. Information on a comparable basis is not available prior to 2007-08.
	
		
			 Year Consultancy Spending (£'000s) 
			 2007-08 21.2 
			 2011-12 0.7 
		
	
	The drop in spend to 2011-12 is due to application of the central government definition of consultancy and the introduction of a stringent business case process to ensure consultancy is managed effectively and only approved where it is deemed to be an operational necessity.

Government Departments: Consultants

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of the recent move of the Department for International Development headquarters from 1 Palace Street to the former Cabinet Office premises at 22 Whitehall; and what plans have been made for the subsequent use of the vacated Palace Street site.

Baroness Northover: The recent move of DfID from 1 Palace Street to 22 Whitehall will save £62.5 million in rent and rates by 2020. The total cost of this is approximately £7 million, just over £1 million below the budget.
	Working in conjunction with the Government Property Unit, agreement was reached with the landlords for an early termination of the leasehold at the end of 2013 which was otherwise due to expire in 2020.

Government Departments: Consultants

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the reasons for not including the Stabilisation Unit in the recent move of the Department for International Development headquarters to 22 Whitehall; and where that will be located.

Baroness Northover: DfID's new London building at 22 Whitehall is significantly more cost-effective to operate than 1 Palace Street. The move will save taxpayers £62.5 million by 2020. As part of the adoption of more modern and efficient space utilisation we decided that the joint DfID/Ministry of Defence/Foreign and Commonwealth Office unit-Stabilisation Unit-would be accommodated in the FCO Old Admiralty Buildings immediately adjacent to our new Whitehall offices. The move will take place shortly.

Government Departments: Ministerial Engagements

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what engagements were undertaken by Department for Education Ministers between January and March 2013 in the English regions of (1) the North West, (2) Yorkshire and Humber, and (3) the North East.

Lord Nash: Between January and March 2013, Department for Education Ministers undertook the following engagements in:
	
		
			 (1) the North West 
			 Date Location of visit Purpose of visit Minister 
			 24/01/2013 Blackpool Visit and meeting with leaders and social workers Edward Timpson 
			 24/01/2013 Cheshire Visit and meeting with frontline staff, leaders, North West Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) group Edward Timpson 
			 18/02/2013 Halton, Runcorn Local Government visit Edward Timpson 
			 18/02/2013 Warrington Local Government visit Edward Timpson 
			 25/03/2013 Liverpool Visit and Speech at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) Conference David Laws MP 
		
	
	
		
			 (2) Yorkshire and Humber 
			 Date Location of visit Purpose of visit Minister 
			 11/01/2013 Leeds Meeting with Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Leeds City Council Matthew Hancock 
			 11/01/2013 Leeds Leeds College Visit Matthew Hancock 
			 11/01/2013 Beverley East Riding College Visit Matthew Hancock 
			 11/01/2013 Beverley National Careers Service (NCS) Centre Visit Matthew Hancock 
			 11/01/2013 Hull Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA) Visit Matthew Hancock 
			 17/01/2013 Sheffield Speech made at North of England Education Conference (NEEC) Elizabeth Truss 
		
	
	
		
			 (3) the North East 
			 Date Location of visit Purpose of visit Minister 
			 01/02/2013 Newcastle Newcastle College Visit Matthew Hancock 
			 01/02/2013 Hexham Northumberland College Visit Matthew Hancock 
			 24/01/2013 Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough Grangetown Primary Visit with Ian Swales MP David Laws MP 
			 01/02/2013 Yarm, Cleveland Meeting with parents planning Free School in Ingleby Barwick for James Wharton MP Michael Gove

Government Departments: Ministerial Engagements

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what engagements were undertaken by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers between January and March 2013 in the English regions of (1) the North West, (2) Yorkshire and Humber, and (3) the North East.

Baroness Warsi: In my capacity as Senior Minister of State, I attended a regional Cabinet meeting in Leeds on 28 January and an event in Bradford on 10 February with the then Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Minister of State for Trade and Investment, my noble friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, had one engagement in Blackburn.
	There is no record of any other engagements between January and March 2013 undertaken by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers in their ministerial capacity.

Government Departments: Ministerial Engagements

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what engagements were undertaken by Home Office Ministers between January and March 2013 in the English regions of (1) the North West, (2) Yorkshire and Humber, and (3) the North East.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website.

Gypsies and Travellers

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to address the significant disparity between the educational attainment of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils at secondary schools and that of the general population; and what evidence they have as to the effectiveness of those steps.

Lord Nash: In 2012, the Department for Communities and Local Government published a ministerial working group progress report on Gypsies and Travellers on tackling the inequalities they face around education, health, criminal justice, planning and access to benefits and financial services. Six of these were education commitments.
	Three of the education commitments have been met. The virtual head teachers' pilots and the exclusions trials are both in progress and are due to report in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The consultation on whether to repeal Section 444(6) of the Education Act 1996 ended on 22 February and the results are currently being analysed.

Health: Microbiology

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the new inspector of microbiology will be in post.

Earl Howe: We recognise the need for expert advice at national level on microbiological issue and are now reviewing the optimum means of ensuring this within the new public health structures. Discussions focusing on the inspector of microbiology's functions will take place later this month. In the mean time, microbiological advice will be provided by experts at Public Health England.

House of Commons: Legislation

Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the Report of the McKay Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government established the McKay Commission to consider how the House of Commons might deal with legislation which affects only part of the UK.
	The Government are grateful to the commission for its work. This is a very important issue, which is why the Government asked this expert commission to consider it. We are giving the report serious consideration before we respond.

House of Lords: Offices

Lord Storey: To ask the Chairman of Committees how many offices for use (1) by peers, (2) by peers' personal staff, and (3) as (a) study rooms, and (b) researchers' rooms, are allocated to (i) the Crossbench group, and (ii) each political party group, within the Palace of Westminster.

Lord Sewel: The allocation of offices within the House of Lords part of the Parliamentary Estate is shown below, broken down by political party or group. Offices across the estate vary in size considerably, as do the number of desks in each office. The allocation of desks within offices is managed by the relevant political party or group.
	There are only seven offices allocated specifically to Peers' personal staff, all of which are in the outbuildings. Peers' staff may also sit at the desk of the Peer for which they work, with the Peer's permission.
	Apart from the party rooms mentioned below, there are no other study rooms or researchers' rooms allocated to particular parties or groups.
	
		
			 Palace of Westminster 
			 Description of type of office Number of offices 
			 Government Front-Bench Peers 10 
			 Opposition Front-Bench Peers 6 
			 Convenor of Cross-Bench Peers 1 
			 Conservative Peers 25 
			 Labour Peers 34 
			 Liberal Democrat Peers 14 
			 Cross-Bench Peers 17 
			 Shared office with Peers of different parties/groups 2 
			 Independent/non-affiliated Peers 2 
			 Government Whips' Office staff 6 
			 Opposition Whips' Office staff 2 
			 Liberal Democrat Whips' Office staff 1 
			 Convenor of Cross-Bench Peers' Office staff 1 
			 Ministerial meeting room 1 
			 Opposition Front-Bench meeting room 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Millbank House 
			 Description of type of office Number of offices 
			 Conservative Peers 23 
			 Labour Peers 24 
			 Liberal Democrat Peers 9 
			 Cross-Bench Peers 6 
			 Independent/non-affiliated Peers 3 
			 Conservative Peers' staff 1 
			 Labour Peers' staff 3 
			 Conservative and Labour Peers' staff (open-plan area) 1 
			 Liberal Democrat Peers' staff (open-plan area) 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Fielden House 
			 Description of type of office Number of offices 
			 Conservative Peers 4 
			 Labour Peers 15 
			 Liberal Democrat Peers 6 
			 Cross-Bench Peers 13 
			 Independent/non-affiliated Peers 2 
			 Conservative Peers' staff 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Old Palace Yard 
			 Description of type of office Number of offices 
			 Conservative Peers 4 
			 Labour Peers 4 
			 Liberal Democrat Peers 3 
			 Cross-Bench Peers 2

Human Rights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the rights under the European Convention of Human Rights to freedom of expression and respect for private life, home and correspondence are applied equally across the United Kingdom.

Lord McNally: As made clear in the coalition agreement, the Government are committed to the European Convention on Human Rights and to ensuring that rights of freedom of expression and respect for private life, home and correspondence continue to be applied equally across the whole of the United Kingdom.
	It is unlawful for any public authority, including local, regional and national Government, to act in a way which is incompatible with a convention right, including the rights of freedom of expression and respect for private life, home and correspondence.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the children referred by the UK Border Agency in 2012 to the National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Trafficking first arrived in the United Kingdom on a document with a visa.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Of the 98 potential child-trafficking cases referred into the National Referral Mechanism by the UK Border Agency and Border Force in 2012, 29 can be matched to a UK visa.
	Figures relate to cases where the applicant was under 18 years old at the time of referral. This data is based on UK Border Agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency management information and as such has not been quality-assured as part of the production of National Statistics outputs. It is provisional and subject to change.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the children referred by the UK Border Agency in 2012 to the National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Trafficking have had their cases referred to the police for child abuse or human trafficking-related investigations.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Ninety-eight potential child-trafficking cases were referred into the National Referral Mechanism by the UK Border Agency and Border Force in 2012. All 98 cases were referred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency and in 60 cases an additional referral was made to a local police team.
	Figures relate to cases where the applicant was deemed to be under 18 years old at the time of referral. This data is based on UK Border Agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency management information and as such has not been quality-assured as part of the production of National Statistics outputs. It is provisional and subject to change.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Vietnamese, (2) Nigerian, and (3) Chinese, children have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism since it was launched in 2009.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: A breakdown of Vietnamese, Nigerian and Chinese minors referred to the National Referral Mechanism since April 2009 can be found in the following table. This information has been compiled by the UK Human Trafficking Centre.
	
		
			  2009* 2010 2011 2012 Total 
			 Vietnamese 34 49 61 96 240 
			 Nigerian 12 29 25 67 133 
			 Chinese 21 15 10 20 66 
		
	
	* Data provided from April to December 2009.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many calls have been made to the UK Border Agency hotline since it was launched in October 2011 regarding human trafficking concerns about individuals on aeroplanes before they have landed in the United Kingdom.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Border Force operates a discreet internal reporting line to enable external law enforcement partner agencies to pass border-related intelligence into Border Force. This line has been made available to two trusted partners in the airline industry to help them report human trafficking concerns and we are working with others in the industry to extend this.
	Since the launch of the human trafficking airline initiative in October 2011, the line has received three calls from airlines that have identified trafficking concerns onboard flights bound for the UK. By its nature, human trafficking is a covert crime and difficult to spot. However, the training provided to cabin crew to date has increased awareness and the likelihood that any indicators evident during flight will be recognised.
	The data is based on management information and as such has not been quality-assured as part of the production of National Statistics outputs. It is provisional and subject to change.

Human Trafficking

Lord Harris of Haringey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 21 March (Official Report, col. 669-72), how many people were referred to the National Referral Mechanism in each of the last three years; and of those, how many were (1) women, (2) children or (3) deported to their country of origin.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The table below details the number of referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in the past three calendar years and how many of them were subsequently removed from the United Kingdom.
	
		
			 Year Total Referrals Women Children Enforced Removal 
			 2010 710 400 186 17 
			 2011 946 461 297 35 
			 2012 1186 575 372 40 
		
	
	The majority of those subject to enforced removal were found not to be victims of trafficking after consideration in the NRM. In the three year period there were less than five enforced removals where there was a NRM conclusive decision that the individual was a victim of trafficking.
	The annual removals figures are not directly comparable with NRM annual referral figures, as the former relate to the year of removal, whereas the latter relate to the number of National Referral Mechanism referrals received in that year. All enforced removal figures provided have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
	This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to implement a central system to record data on what happens to trafficked children after referral to the National Referral Mechanism, in particular whether they are a victim or a witness or subsequently go missing.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government are committed to safeguarding victims of child trafficking. Those that come into care are allocated a social worker who will assess their needs and draw up a care plan which sets out how the authority intends to respond to these. Local authorities hold a range of data locally on their looked after children, and there are currently no plans to implement a central system of recording with regard to trafficked children.
	The Government are committed to understanding the experiences of trafficking children while in local authority care. We are funding a scoping study to get a better understanding of how child trafficking policies are operating in practice. We are also taking steps to improve the quality and consistency of data on when and why children go missing from care.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect a child trafficking strategic threat assessment report to be published by the UK Human Trafficking Centre.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The UK Human Trafficking Centre is compiling the 2012 strategic threat assessment for human trafficking to be published in the summer. This will cover both adults and children.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government who will hold responsibility for the prevention of child trafficking when the National Crime Agency starts operations in October 2013.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Human Trafficking will remain the responsibility of the UK Human Trafficking Centre, which will be part of the National Crime Agency. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre will continue to lead on all cases involving sexual exploitation of children, including where elements of trafficking may be present, within the UK.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the problem of trafficking of Vietnamese children, in the light of no convictions for the trafficking of Vietnamese children since 2009 despite Vietnamese children accounting for a quarter of all referrals of child trafficking.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The first report of the inter-departmental ministerial group (IDMG) on human trafficking, published as a Command Paper (Cm 8421) on 18 October 2012, recognised Vietnam as a key source country. The UK actively supports and participates in international efforts to disrupt human trafficking networks that can lead to investigations and prosecutions overseas. The UK will continue to monitor Vietnam.

Human Trafficking

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Nigerian children have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism since April 2009; and what percentage of those children have received a positive conclusive grounds decision.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Data from the UK Human Trafficking Centre show that, as of 27 March 2013, 160 potential child victims of trafficking with a declared country of origin of Nigeria had been referred to the National Referral Mechanism since April 2009. 44 individuals (27.5%) have received a positive conclusive grounds decision.
	Fifty-seven cases are awaiting positive reasonable grounds or conclusive grounds decisions.

Human Trafficking

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to end human trafficking following the first annual report of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government continue to strengthen the UK's efforts to combat human trafficking, through their human trafficking strategy and with direction and oversight from the inter-departmental ministerial group (IDMG) on human trafficking. Through its annual report, the IDMG will assess trends, work with civil society organisations and make recommendations continually to test, reinforce and strengthen the UK's approach to tackling this crime.

International Day for Street Children

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will support the International Day for Street Children on 12 April.

Baroness Northover: The UK Government recognise that street children throughout the world face difficult conditions every day. We are working closely with other governments, the United Nations Children's Fund and charities to tackle the issues that affect all vulnerable people across the world. The International Day for Street Children on 12 April, launched by the Consortium for Street Children, is an excellent initiative. It draws attention to the plight of some of the most at-risk children, girls and boys across the world. The UK Government will emphasise the importance of the day asking governments and others to do everything in their power to improve the lives of these children.

Iraq

Lord Dobbs: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 18 March (WA116), why they have not produced any estimate for the number of Iraqis killed as a result of terrorist and war-related violence since the invasion of that country in 2003.

Baroness Warsi: The Government do not collate or publish numbers for civilians killed during conflicts. This is because it is immensely difficult to collect robust, accurate data. There are a number of publicly available sources that estimate such numbers. The Government do publish official numbers of UK service personnel and civilians employed by the Government who are killed during conflict. The continuing violence and loss of life in Iraq is deplorable, and we have urged all political groups to work together to tackle terrorism and secure Iraq's future.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel concerning the reported spraying of foul smelling liquid known as "skunk" on residents and homes in the village of Nabi Saleh by the Israeli Defence Staff.

Baroness Warsi: We have repeatedly raised concerns regarding Israeli handling of non-violent protest in Nabi Saleh, as in other areas of the West Bank, and will continue to do so.

Judicial Execution

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the use of crucifixion as a form of judicial execution, and (2) the practice of displaying on a cross the bodies of those executed as the result of a judicial sentence.

Baroness Warsi: The Government consider the use of crucifixion as a form of judicial execution to be abhorrent. It is contrary to international law as a form of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
	We consider the display on a cross of the bodies of those executed to also constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. These appalling practices should have no place in any society.

Kenya

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the number of refugees who have fled Kenya since the Government of Kenya announced its plan to relocate all urban refugees to refugee camps, (2) the actions of the Kenyan security services following that announcement and (3) the impact of the announcement on the peace process in Somalia.

Baroness Northover: The Kenyan Government issued a directive to relocate all urban refugees to refugee camps on 16 January 2013.
	(1) In their report of January 2013, the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) estimates the number of refugees who have left Kenya as approximately 6,300 and attributes some of these to the Kenya Government's directive.
	(2) There were reports of harassment, extortion and abuse of the rights of Somali refugees by security services in the period immediately after the directive was issued. However, the directive has not been implemented following a legal challenge by a non-governmental organisation. This resulted in an injunction issued by the High Court of Kenya on 23 January and the case is due to be heard on 4 April 2013.
	(3) A direct impact on the peace process in Somalia has not been established by the British Office for Somalia at this stage.

Litter

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of the power granted to local authorities in the London Authorities Act 2012 to make littering a civil offence; how many penalty charge notices have been issued by each local authority to date; and what plans they have to extend those powers to other areas in England.

Lord De Mauley: Littering from vehicles is an issue that requires a specific focus. One solution is the approach adopted in the London Local Authorities Act 2012 which enables London boroughs to issue a civil penalty against the registered keeper of a vehicle if littering is witnessed. This power is relatively new, and we do not routinely collect data on the number of penalty charge notices issued by London boroughs, and have not yet received information on how widely it has been used. This Act has now been in force for nearly a year and officials will shortly be working with London councils to review the effectiveness of these powers. Once we have that information, we will be better placed to judge whether the approach could usefully be adopted throughout the country.

Music Companies: Finance

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many music companies in the past year have obtained loans under (1) the Funding for Lending Scheme, (2) the National Loan Guarantee Scheme, (3) Community Development Finance, (4) Enterprise Finance Guarantee, (5) Business Finance Partnership, (6) Business Finance Partnership: Small Business Tranche, and (7) Government- backed start-up loans.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Details of loans made to music companies are available for the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and Start-Up Loans. Enterprise finance guarantee is a scheme that guarantees loans to businesses that would not otherwise qualify for a commercial loan. Sixty-five music businesses have been offered loan facilities of £5.5 million since January 2009. Start-Up Loans, which provides advice and start-up finance for 18 to 30 year-olds looking to start and grow their own businesses, has supported 25 music businesses with £83,000 since September 2012.
	The Funding for Lending Scheme, national loan guarantee scheme and Business Finance Partnership are schemes that aim to ease the flow of credit to the real economy. Thirty-nine banks have signed up to the Funding for Lending Scheme so far. It is too early to judge the impact of the scheme on lending due to the time it takes for loans to be processed and drawn down by customers. However, we have already started to see loans becoming more easily available and at cheaper rates. The national loan guarantee scheme has resulted in over 28,000 reduced rate loans being offered to small businesses, with a value of £4.8 billion. We have committed £1.2 billion through the Business Finance Partnership of which almost £800 million has now been made available to lenders along with over £1 billion of co-investment from private sector investors.
	Community development finance institutions are organisations that provide lending to individuals and businesses which find it difficult to access funds from the commercial banks. The Government have supported these institutions via tax relief for investors and by making £30 million available, through the regional growth fund which enabled a £60 million scheme for onward lending to businesses.
	We do not hold a sector breakdown and therefore cannot say how many music companies have benefited from the later schemes as the funds or guarantees are made to enable lending more broadly and not in response to a specific loan application.

Music Companies: Finance

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many music companies have in the past year obtained investment under (1) the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, (2) the Enterprise Investment Scheme, (3) the Venture Capital Trusts Scheme, (4) the Business Angel Co-Investment Fund, (5) the Enterprise Capital Funds, and (6) the UK Innovation Investment Fund.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), do not hold data in a format that shows investment specifically in music companies under (1) the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, (2) the Enterprise Investment Scheme, (3) the Venture Capital Trusts Scheme, (4) the Business Angel Co-Investment Fund, (5) the Enterprise Capital Funds, and (6) the UK Innovation Investment Fund.

National Institute for Economic and Social Research

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they have provided to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) in the past three years, and for what purposes; when that body was first registered as a charity and on what grounds; and under what criteria NIESR staff are permitted to become members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) is an independent institute. NIESR receives funding for specific research projects from a number of government sources, including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as well as the private sector, usually via competitive tenders or calls for research proposals. It has no single government sponsor, hence, the following government funding figures, drawn up in consultation with the NIESR, are indicative:
	
		
			 Funder 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 ESRC £159,611 £328,946 £674,495 
			 Other Government Funding £699,844 £575,811 £561,433 
			 Total £859,455 £904,757 £1,235,928 
		
	
	Funding has been used for research on a wide variety of economic issues, including for example labour markets, productivity, immigration, macroeconomic analysis, education, and regional economic performance. All such research is eventually published by NIESR, the responsible government department, or both.
	NIESR was registered as a charity on 27 August 1962 on the basis of its object to advance education in the social sciences. The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is a private scheme and the USS sets its own criteria. Full sets of accounts including information on public benefit are available at the Charity Commission and Companies House websites. NIESR's charity number is 306083.

Northern Cyprus

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has co-operated with the United Kingdom police in returning wanted and on-the-run criminals; and what assessment they have made of the impact United Kingdom non-recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has had on fugitives being returned.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The UK does not recognise the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This means that no formal relationship exists for anti-criminal operations or extradition. However, the UK maintains a constructive dialogue with Turkish Cypriots on many issues of immediate concern. The Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities use the bi-communal sub-committee on crime and criminal matters to exchange information on these important issues.

Northern Ireland: Schools

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have not designated Northern Ireland schools in relation to the statutory equality duties under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; and whether they will bring such provision into line with those applying to schools under the Equality Act 2010 in England and Wales.

Baroness Randerson: Section 75 of the 1998 Act imposes a statutory duty to promote equality of opportunity on public authorities. Section 75(3) lists a number of public authorities to which the statutory duty applies and contains powers (but not any obligation) for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to designate by order other persons or bodies as public authorities for that purpose. Currently, the power under Section 75 only allows the Secretary of State to make a "full" designation-that is, for all of a person's functions and without exceptions. The effect of the current law is that even where it might be sensible to designate a person for certain functions only, that option is not available in the same way that it is under the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 in England and Wales.
	Clause 11 of the draft Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill would permit such designation, if it becomes law. However, any decisions regarding which additional bodies might become partially designated under Section 75 by secondary legislation will be taken at a later date, following due consideration and consultation where appropriate.

Ofwat

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the duties of Ofwat with respect to (1) water industry consumers, and (2) the regulation of the financial health and structure of water companies with respect to their ability to finance enhancements to their infrastructure.

Lord De Mauley: Ofwat has been given clear statutory duties to protect the interests of consumers while ensuring that efficient water companies can carry out and finance their functions, and to exercise its powers in a way best calculated to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.
	The duties for most of Ofwat's work, as the economic regulator, are laid down in Section 2 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA91), as updated by Section 39 of the Water Act 2003. Ofwat's main duties include:
	protecting the interests of consumers, wherever appropriate by promoting effective competition;ensuring that the functions of each undertaker (ie water company) are properly carried out and that they are able to finance their functions, in particular by securing reasonable returns on their capital; andensuring that companies with water supply licences (ie those selling water to large business customers, known as licensees) properly carry out their functions.
	Ofwat also has secondary duties to:
	promote economy and efficiency by companies in their work; and
	contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.

Olympic Supplier Recognition Scheme

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government what definition of "audio, video and audio-visual equipment, recording devices, navigation equipment, and cameras" has been used in the establishment of the Olympic Supplier Recognition Scheme.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The provision of audio, video and audio-visual equipment falls within one of the excluded categories. These categories exist to protect the rights of worldwide Olympic sponsors, whose investment makes the Games possible. Within this particular category, there is a distinction between the provision of equipment and the provision of services, such as installation, relating to that equipment. Businesses that supplied audio, video or audio-visual equipment are excluded from the scheme as the rights for such services are limited to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) worldwide sponsors. This restriction includes the supply of hardware equipment including cameras, CCTV security equipment and navigation equipment. On the other hand, companies whose supply focused on providing audio-visual services-for example, installation, production or engineering services-may be eligible, and these suppliers are encouraged to refer to the British Olympic Association for further guidance.
	The new scheme, launched in January 2013, allows greater freedom for approved 2012 suppliers to promote the goods and services they supplied to the Games than was permitted under the previous protocol published by LOCOG in December 2007 and updated in September 2010. Those suppliers that are not eligible for the supplier recognition scheme continue to be able to make simple, factual statements relating to their work on the Games.

Olympic Supplier Recognition Scheme

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend further to refine the definitions of (1) "audio, video and audio-visual equipment, recording devices, navigation equipment, and cameras", and (2) "commercial, residential and industrial lighting fixtures and systems", in the Olympic Supplier Recognition Scheme in order to ensure that United Kingdom companies that produced services for the London 2012 Games can publicise their involvement.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Definitions of each of the excluded categories can be viewed in the FAQ section on the supplier recognition scheme website at www.srs2012.com. These exclusions exist to protect the rights of worldwide Olympic sponsors, whose investment makes the Games possible. I would encourage any supplier who is uncertain about whether they may be eligible for a licence under the new scheme to seek clarification from the British Olympic Association (BOA).
	The BOA takes decisions on individual applications on a case-by-case basis, taking account of whether the eligibility criteria are met, the nature of the goods or services provided and the core business of the supplier concerned.
	The purpose of the new recognition scheme is to allow 2012 suppliers additional scope to promote their involvement in the 2012 Games, over and above the arrangements that were put in place by LOCOG in the marketing protocol which they published in 2007 and which were extended in 2010. Under the previous and the new arrangements, all 2012 suppliers can make factual statements about their work on the Games by, for example, including references to their work in client lists and in pitch and tender documents. Suppliers wishing to undertake this activity should seek guidance from the BOA. The new recognition scheme gives licensed suppliers greater scope to actively promote their goods and services-for example, at trade fairs in the UK and overseas, and by describing themselves on their website and elsewhere as a supplier of goods or services to the 2012 Games.

Olympic Supplier Recognition Scheme

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government why entertainment lighting suppliers to the London 2012 Games are excluded from the Olympic Supplier Recognition Scheme.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The provision of lighting systems falls within one of the scheme's excluded categories. These exclusions exist to protect the rights of worldwide Olympic sponsors, whose investment makes the Games possible. Companies whose supply includes lighting services-for example, installation and design-may be eligible, and I encourage them to contact the British Olympic Association (BOA) for further guidance.
	Companies that supplied lighting equipment and are excluded from the scheme are still permitted to make factual statements about their work on the London 2012 Games and are advised to seek guidance from the BOA on what is permitted.

Pitcairn

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are providing to honey producers in Pitcairn to develop and expand that industry.

Baroness Warsi: Pitcairn honey is an excellent product and we have supported its export from Pitcairn through hosting events at the governor's residence and more recently promoting it at the UK booth at the Pacific Island Forum in the Cook Islands. In addition, the British Government provide the shipping service to and from the island which allows the export of the product and the satellite phone/internet link which enables producers to advertise and conduct business around the world.

Pitcairn

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 27 March (WA 251), what are their differences of opinion with Pitcairn's locally elected Government.

Baroness Warsi: Governance on Pitcairn consists of an elected Island Council which works with, and advises, the Governor, who exercises executive authority. These arrangements are clearly set out in the Pitcairn constitution. It is entirely appropriate, and healthy, for there to be different views on different issues within the Government of Pitcairn and between the Island Council and the British Government. It would be inappropriate, however, to detail those individual issues which form a frank but productive dialogue.

Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry Regiment

The Earl of Shrewsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future structure and possible redeployment of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry Regiment.

Lord Astor of Hever: Work to decide the future structure of the Territorial Army is ongoing. A ministerial announcement will be made in due course.

Schools: Careers Advice

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research is being carried out into the effectiveness of the school-based careers advice service introduced in September 2012.

Lord Nash: The new duty on schools to secure access to independent and impartial careers guidance only began in September 2012. It is important that we allow sufficient time for the duty to bed in before we draw any firm conclusions about the effectiveness of the new arrangements. We are evaluating the impact of the new duty in a range of formal and informal ways.
	Government have commissioned Ofsted to carry out a thematic review of careers guidance, which will report this summer.
	We are publishing education destination measures to show the percentage of students progressing to further education or training in a school, further education or sixth form college, apprenticeship, employment or higher education institution. The measures provide us with evidence of how effective schools are in supporting pupils to move successfully into the next phase or their education or into sustainable work, including through the provision of independent careers guidance.
	Ministers and officials meet and correspond regularly with a range of stakeholders on issues relating to the delivery of careers provision in schools.
	Taken together, these sources will provide us with detailed evidence relating to the effectiveness of school-based careers guidance and inform future improvements in the quality of provision.

Schools: Design and Technology

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what comparison they have made between academic achievement and technical skill levels attained in the United Kingdom manufacturing and industrial workforce in the periods 1950 to 1975 and 1975 to 2000.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: There are no available data that would allow a comparison for the period requested.

Schools: Design and Technology

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what response they have made to reactions from industry and the education community to their proposal "schools curriculum for design and technology, programmes for study for key stages 1-3" following the presentation of the proposals at the Westminster Education Forum on 13 February.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what response they have made to concerns expressed by the Design and Technology Association, the Design Council, Education 4 Engineering, the Dyson secondary schools project and Seymourpowell, that proposals for revision of the design and technology curriculum, which focus on basic craft and household maintenance skills, will place at risk creative challenging, learning in design, engineering and technology that is part of the present curriculum.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how proposals relating to design technology as a convenient, broad, low-skill and low academic level educational facility are intended to address the societal issue of those young people who are not in employment, education or training.

Lord Nash: We published our proposals for the reform of the national curriculum on 7 February and are currently conducting a full public consultation, which ends on 16 April. We will conduct a full analysis of the responses we receive during the consultation period, including submissions on the content of the new programmes of study for design and technology, before final decisions are taken. We will also take account of views expressed at events such as the Westminster Education Forum.
	We are committed to high quality design and technology teaching in schools, and recognise the importance of the subject to the country's future economic success. We are listening carefully to the views of key stakeholders, including those whom the noble Lord mentions, and will work with subject experts to ensure that the finalised design and technology curriculum will deliver a rigorous and challenging technological education, which fully matches the level of ambition and challenge that we have set for the new national curriculum as a whole.

Schools: Free Schools

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what new free schools have opened since 2010 in the English regions of (1) the North West, (2) Yorkshire and Humber, and (3) the North East.

Lord Nash: To date, 16 free schools have opened in these three English regions. They are as follows:
	
		
			 North-west: 
			 Maharishi School 
			 Sandbach School 
			 Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School 
			 Atherton Community School 
			 Everton Free School 
			 King's Leadership Academy Warrington 
			 Sandymoor 
			 The Hawthorne's Free School 
			 Yorkshire and Humber: 
			 Batley Grammar School 
			 Kings Science Academy 
			 Rainbow Primary School 
			 Dixons Music Primary 
			 Dixons Trinity Academy 
			 Lighthouse School 
			 North-east: 
			 Cramlington Village Primary School 
			 Grindon Hall Free School

Schools: Funding

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take in pursuance of the finding in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Capital funding for new school places, that 256,000 new primary and secondary school places will be needed in England by 2014.

Lord Nash: On 1 March, the Secretary of State announced a two year (2013-15) capital allocation totalling £1.6 billion to support local authorities to provide additional pupil places, taking the level of investment in basic need capital in the current spending review period to £4.3 billion. The £1.6 billion was allocated using planning area level data, which has provided the department with a greater understanding of pupil place pressures within local authorities.
	In his Autumn Statement on 5 December, the Chancellor announced that the Government will provide additional investment of £982 million for schools in England over the remainder of this Parliament. With this additional money, we have launched the targeted basic need programme to fund the provision of new, high-quality school places in the areas that need it most. The programme will offer additional support to those local authorities experiencing the greatest pressure on places and will help them to prepare for further rises in pupil numbers.
	It is the responsibility of each local authority to manage the supply of pupil places in their area. However, we have set out our expectation of greater transparency so that local authorities' decisions about where to add places are more transparent and accessible to the public. Local authorities will be required to make available details of how they have used capital funding to create additional places and in which schools.

Schools: Sixth Forms

Lord Knight of Weymouth: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is possible for a secondary school to receive a good or outstanding grade from Ofsted if its sixth form is not judged to be good or outstanding.

Lord Nash: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the noble Lord, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to Lord Knight of Weymouth, dated 2 April 2013.
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	Under the current school inspection framework, inspectors make four graded judgements on: the achievement of pupils at the school; the quality of teaching in the school; the quality of leadership in and management of the school; and the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school.
	Taking into account the full range of evidence gathered by inspectors, including their evaluation of the quality of education provided in a school's sixth form, the inspection team make a graded judgement on the overall effectiveness of the school. For a school to be judged at least good, the learning and progress of groups of pupils need to be at least good. As pupils in a sixth form would represent such a group, and if the sixth form was judged to be less than good because achievement in the sixth form required improvement or was inadequate, then the school would not be judged overall to be good or better.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Serious Fraud Office

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their evaluation of the funding and staffing needs of the Serious Fraud Office in combating bribery.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates and prosecutes cases of serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption. It is not the only organisation to combat bribery in the UK.
	Parliament votes on the SFO's budget as part of the supply estimates process, along with other government departments. The SFO's main estimate supply for 2012-13 was £34,800,000.
	Some SFO cases are exceptionally resource-intensive and, where this is the case, the SFO will apply for additional funding from HM Treasury. The Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act of 26 March 2013 provided additional funds of £12,733,000 for 2012-13.
	The SFO currently has a core of 303 (293.46 FTE) staff on the payroll. The SFO adapts to unusually resource-intensive investigations by supplementing permanent staffing with short-term specialist resourcing. Currently, there are 29 temporary contract workers at the SFO.
	It is not possible to break down the funding and staffing requirements specifically relating to bribery. However, the SFO has four casework divisions, two of which focus on bribery and corruption. For 2012-13, the estimated spend for the two divisions is £6,356,791 (subject to audit of the 2012-13 resource accounts).

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are investigating the possible mis-selling of fixed-rate loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Lord Deighton: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is currently undertaking a review into the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products. The banks concerned have committed to completing these reviews within six months. However, the FCA does not regulate business lending and fixed rate loans cannot, therefore, be part of the review.

Somalia

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty's Government, notwithstanding the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 21 March (WA 183), how they will ensure that women will be meaningfully represented at the International Conference on Somalia in London.

Baroness Warsi: Preventing sexual violence in conflict is a theme of the Somalia conference. The issue will be raised prominently and we will seek commitments to tackle the challenges of sexual violence in Somalia. The steps we will take to do this were outlined in the previous Answer to which you have referred. Since then, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, has visited Somalia and started a dialogue with the Federal Government of Somalia on combating sexual violence.
	On 11 April, SRSG Bangura addressed G8 Foreign Ministers in London at the invitation of the Government. We support the work of SRSG Bangura's office and will continue to work with her and the Federal Government of Somalia to facilitate efforts to combat sexual violence and build international support behind this.

Stateless People

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have for improving the situation of stateless people, including those in Europe; and what representations they have made to other governments on that issue.

Baroness Warsi: On 6 April the Government introduced, through changes to the Immigration Rules, a new procedure by which stateless persons in the UK can be formally recognised as stateless and granted leave to remain. This is primarily intended to provide the small number of stateless people who qualify for no other type of leave and have nowhere else to go an avenue to regularise their stay.
	In addition, the UK is a signatory and remains committed to the principles set out in two UN resolutions on statelessness: the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office makes bilateral representations to Governments, where appropriate, to ensure persons are not rendered stateless for political reasons and to regularise the status of those who are disadvantaged or suffering because they are stateless.

Teachers: Specialist Teachers

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of specialist, accredited dyslexia teachers within the education system.

Lord Nash: There is not a centrally recognised specialist accreditation for teachers of dyslexic pupils. It is for schools to ensure that their staff have the relevant skills for teaching their pupils. There is a range of materials and programmes which support them to do so in relation to dyslexia.
	Government funds, from this and the previous Administration, have supported 3,200 teachers to take specialist dyslexia training courses approved by the British Dyslexia Association. The Government also have awarded grants to the Dyslexia-Specific Learning Difficulty Trust to raise awareness and to support parents and schools, including an intervention for literacy website (www.interventionsforliteracy.org.uk).
	The Government also supported the development of advanced-level training materials on a range of special educational needs, including dyslexia. These can be used with students, teachers and other staff working with pupils. Arrangements are in hand for these to be updated and maintained by the sector to provide an up-to-date source of development materials.
	The National College for Teaching and Leadership is also collecting data on the numbers of qualified teachers and support staff undertaking scholarships in specific areas. In 2012-13, 233 teachers and 274 support staff undertook specific training in special educational needs.

Teachers: Training

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that teacher training institutions are adequately staffed to produce teachers who are competent to teach the new national curriculum in respect of (1) the core subjects, (2) foreign languages, and (3) the other foundation subjects.

Lord Nash: Accredited teacher training providers, including the increasing number of school-led providers of initial teacher training (ITT), are all subject to the Secretary of State's criteria for ITT. The criteria set out the clear expectation that training is structured and delivered to ensure that no trainee teachers are recommended for the award of QTS until they have met all of the Teachers' Standards. The standards require trainee teachers to demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge in the subjects and curricula that they teach. This includes, where relevant, the core and foundation subjects of the national curriculum. It is an accredited provider's responsibility to ensure that it has sufficiently well qualified staff to deliver high-quality training. Ofsted regularly inspects ITT providers to assure the quality of their provision. If a provider repeatedly receives grades that are less than good, the Teaching Agency will commence withdrawal of accreditation procedures.

Teachers: Training

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to ensure that sufficient staff in teacher training institutions acquire the requisite competence in lexicology, semantic structures, and grammar to train future teachers of the English language as a core subject in schools; and, if so, what are those plans.

Lord Nash: Teacher training institutions, including the increasing number of school-led providers of initial teacher training (ITT), are all subject to the Secretary of State's criteria for ITT. The criteria set out the clear expectation that training is structured and delivered to ensure that no trainee teachers are recommended for the award of QTS until they have met all of the Teachers' Standards. The standards require trainee teachers to demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge in the subjects and curricula that they teach. This includes, where relevant, the core and foundation subjects of the national curriculum. It is an accredited provider's responsibility to ensure that it has sufficiently well qualified staff to deliver high-quality training. Ofsted regularly inspects ITT providers to assure the quality of their provision. If a provider repeatedly receives grades that are less than good, the Teaching Agency will commence withdrawal of accreditation procedures.

Teachers: Training

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what change there has been in the number of initial teacher training placements in (1) special schools, and (2) specialist settings within mainstream schools, between 2011-12 and 2013-14.

Lord Nash: There is no mandatory requirement for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers to supply information to the department about specific placements undertaken as part of a trainee's individual ITT course. Therefore it is not possible to provide a response relating to the number and nature of placements. ITT providers determine the content of ITT courses locally to meet school and specific trainee need and, in doing this, ensure that trainees meet the Teachers Standards to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current state of freedom of the press in Turkey.

Baroness Warsi: The Government share the concerns of the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Commission about press freedoms in Turkey, including the arrest and lengthy detention without trial of a number of journalists.
	The Deputy Prime Minister, my right honourable friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg), raised concerns about human rights, and particularly freedom of expression, with the Prime Minister of Turkey on a visit to Turkey in October 2012. The Minister for Europe, my right honourable friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), regularly raises the issue, most recently in February, with Egemen Bagis, the Turkish European Affairs Minister.
	We welcome the recent judicial reform package adopted by the Turkish Parliament as an important step towards improving freedom of expression in Turkey. We are also encouraged by two further developments; the creation of a national human rights institution and an ombudsman in 2012. Along with our European partners, we continue to urge Turkey to make further progress in meeting its international commitments on human rights.

UK Border Agency

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 21 March (WA 185-6), what steps they have taken to implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency (HC 124, 2008-09).

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: In 2009, the Comptroller and Auditor-General published Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency. This document assessed the performance of the UK Border Agency and, specifically, the performance of the New Asylum Model, which had been in place since 2007.
	The document made 10 broad recommendations for change, supported by over 20 specific recommendations to the process, including better quality auditing of decisions; establishing targets for 12 and 24 month conclusions; improving removals; developing and establishing targets for average costs. At the time of publication these recommendations were evaluated by the UK Border Agency and implemented where appropriate.
	The Home Office recognises that through listening to feedback we may improve our processes further. Indeed, since this report, the asylum system has been assessed by various other groups-most notably the independent chief inspector, John Vine. His 2011 report (link below) made several additional recommendations-the majority of which were accepted and implemented by the UK Border Agency.
	http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011 /02/Use-of-country-of-origin- information-in-deciding-asylum-applications.pdf.
	Further, our performance is published every year against 15 key performance indicators (KPIs)-link below. These cover a wide variety of factors, including many of the recommendations from the 2009 report. Specifically:
	asylum intake;work in Progress (WiP) cases;intake;asylum support costs;productivity;asylum unit cost;initial decisions in 30 days;cases concluded in six months;cases concluded in 12 months;cases concluded in 35 months;cases removed in 12 months;decision quality;appeal representation rate;appeal win rate; andasylum grant rate.http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/further-key-data/. 
	Overall, the published statistics show a system improving, with the majority of KPIs either exceeding or matching the previous year's figures. We are confident this trend will be repeated in this year's publication.
	Going forward, the Asylum Casework Directorate is implementing several changes to simplify and standardise the asylum system-allowing for better, earlier identification of the needs of the claimant, including the most vulnerable, and enabling appropriate consideration by the correct team who specialise in their case type. This specialisation will then enable the development of country and subject expertise by decision-makers, resulting in faster, higher quality decisions.

UK Border Agency

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are moving the remit of the UK Border Agency back to the Home Office.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: My right honourable friend the Home Secretary set out the reasons in her Statement on 26 March 2013 (Official Report, cols. 1500-10).

UK Border Agency

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 14 March (WA 92), what guidance and training in counselling is received by those UK Border Agency caseworkers who conduct interviews with applicants.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: No specific training or guidance on counselling is provided to caseworkers who conduct interviews with applicants. The training and guidance provided depends on the purpose of the interview the caseworker will be conducting. Where appropriate, this can include provisions for people who may be vulnerable. For example, training and guidance on interviewing techniques is provided to those who conduct interviews in order to help vulnerable asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors present their evidence and make them feel more at ease during the interview process.

UK Border Agency: Staff

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 14 March (WA 92), what assessments, appraisals and reviews are carried out following UK Border Agency case-workers' (1) initial training, and (2) continued professional development courses.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office (formerly UK Border Agency) case owners are subject to the Home Office performance management process.
	The following principles underpin the performance management policy:
	performance will be managed in line with Civil Service values and the Civil Service Code of Conduct;performance will be managed with a focus on continuous improvement and individual development. Poor performance will be managed to ensure efficient business delivery; andperformance will be managed in a fair and transparent way. This policy complies with employment legislation, ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) best practice, the Equality Act 2010 and the Civil Service Management Code.
	Driving up individual and organisational performance is a key factor in providing greater value for money and delivering high quality public services.
	The performance management policy provides a framework for managing performance throughout the year, laying the foundations of expected standards of performance and facilitating employee engagement.
	Performance is evaluated against both the what (delivery of objectives) and the how (demonstration of skills, knowledge, behaviours and values, as described in the Civil Service competency framework, professional frameworks and Civil Service Code) with equal weighting. Case owners performance is reviewed with line managers at one to one meetings during the year. Objectives are set at the start of the year and reviewed during the year. Depending on performance this could be more or less often.
	These discussions provide the basis for a personal development plan to support performance improvements. At the end of the reporting year the case owner and line manager agree an appraisal which is checked against a group of their peers to confirm the appropriate distribution of performance ratings.

Violence against Women

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the announcement on 4 March that the next Department for International Development plan for Afghanistan will include violence against women as a strategic priority, whether Afghanistan will become one of the 10 focus countries of that department's new research initiative to help prevent violence against women and girls.

Baroness Northover: No decisions have yet been taken on the focus countries for DfID's new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Research and Innovation Fund, although they will reflect departmental priorities.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what statistics they keep on visitors and other categories of people staying beyond the time allowed on their visa; how many visitors were estimated to have overstayed in the last year for which figures are available; what action they are taking to return those who do overstay; and whether they will introduce a security bond system for those from high-risk countries to reduce the level of such illegal immigration.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: We do not collect the data requested. Overstayers who come to our attention are put through a removals process. Where appropriate, we promote voluntary departure. Capita have been contracted to assist with contact management and delivering more voluntary departure case outcomes. Otherwise we will enforce removal. With fingerprints now recorded with every visa application, establishing identity for the purpose of removal is becoming simpler. We have also changed the Immigration Rules to make it clear where the balance lies between family life and the public interest in removal. We have split the UK Border Agency to create a new, dedicated immigration enforcement directorate within the Home Office which will strengthen enforcement action.
	We are taking further action to protect public benefits and services from overstayers. Additionally, the details of identified overstayers are shared with CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, to deny them access to financial services.
	As the Deputy Prime Minister referenced in his immigration speech on 22 March 2013, and the Home Secretary has previously announced, we are considering the possibility of a bonds scheme to incentivise compliance, particularly by visa applicants who might overstay their visa.